US Sanctions Aban Tether and Shalbit

The U.S. Department of the Treasury has sanctioned two Iranian digital asset exchanges named Shalbit and Aban Tether, along with the operator of this network. The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) issued these sanctions on Friday. According to OFAC, cryptocurrency addresses in Iran have transferred over $1 million to the Shalbit exchange, and more than $2 million has been returned from Shalbit to their wallets. Keyvanpour, the operator of Shalbit, managed this exchange from Georgia and had established multiple shell companies in Poland and the United Arab Emirates. His wallets have sent over $2 million to Nobitex. OFAC also stated that Shalbit has laundered tens of millions of dollars for a Persian-language gambling network. Aban Tether has also processed millions of transactions with sanctioned platforms. The U.S. Treasury cited Executive Order 13902, which targets companies operating in Iran's financial sector. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Basset announced that the Treasury will track and dismantle illegal financial networks. This action is part of the U.S. maximum pressure campaign against Iran.